Idol Management
Everywhere I turn, I see my desires for things other than Christ. Sometimes, I see those desires are gifts from him and I hold them carefully and losely. Other times, I see those desires turn to idols. Some to mention: desire for affection, attention, purpose, love, and yes even a desire to control, suprised?
God does want me to see my idols and how I have specifically replaced the worship of God to the worship of things, desires, relationships, etc. He wants me to repent and TRULY TURN from those things and see them as gifts and enjoy them as such. God wants me to enjoy HIM and delight in HIS presence.
YET- it is so tempting to get caught up in seeing idols and smashing them. I would never be done, if this is what I set my heart out to do. Digging for idols isn’t worship. It is self-worship, a form of self-atonement. I think that digging for sin is a way of explaining and understanding myself so that I don’t have to ultimately rest in Christ’s provision on the Cross and the rich grace lavished on me. If I am a proficient idol hunter, then I can make myself into an award winning idol smasher?
As I wrestle and repent, the goal in it is not to navel gaze, hunt for idols, despair over depravity. The “end” or the goal of my walk is Christ and worshipping him, to marvel at His goodness. So, I press on for the upward call in Christ Jesus.
Philipians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I recently heard an amazing sermon on the “Passover”. I sat in my seat, stunned and have continued to ponder this amazing truth. In the Exodus story- when the hebrews placed the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, the spirit would pass over the doorways with blood and not take the life of the first born son. Here it is: God did not look in the home and see if there were idols on the table, before His spirit passed over. He saw the blood (that is it) and passed over. Jesus Christ’s blood on the cross was the atonement for my sins. God passes over me, because of Jesus. Oh, how tempting it is for me to busy myself with idol management. I am a woman under the blood of Christ, I am covered. No amount of idol repenting gets me more. I will continue to work out my salvation with fear and trembling, but the working out part does not get me more of the blood. I am already in Christ. I am already covered with grace. God sees Jesus over me. My father God knows every hair on my head and holds the universe together, I am in awe at his majesty and delight that grace flows freely to me constantly.
David Powlison had a great talk on this (analysing and introspecting) that I listened to last week, perfect timing (God is getting thru to me!) Here is the free download of the teaching:
http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=A2250-03-51
What I have learned this last couple months is to celebrate more. To repent is worshipful, but to not go looking for sin, idols, to not process life and heart to the extent that it is a self-introspective-self-atonement. My heart is softened before God and I am ready to dance more.
Are you stuck in idol management? I would love to hear…
Filed under Uncategorized |3 Responses to “Idol Management”
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And I say it again, Amen!
Hi Trisha!
I came upon your site from Keisha’s site! I like your thoughts on the subject of idolatry. Your right in that it is not necessary to continuously look for the idols of our heart. If people are stuck in that then they have missed the truth altogether. I have seen that only God’s spirit can reveal the idols in our lives, with the result being the ultimate revelation of self-idolatry. I think it is necessary for a season to feel that honest despair in order to fix our eyes rightly on Jesus, not Jesus + something.
I think like you said so many think if they find an idol they will be fixed and so it becomes a mechanical process that totally lacks the power of God.
But true repentance must involve recognition of our honest condition. It’s a difficult subject especially when dealing with people who fall into despair due to lack of an understanding of God’s deep love for his people.
I think the story of Gideon(Judges 6)is a great example on this subject.
There has to be the balance of understanding that we are covered by the blood of Christ, but we are also called to go and sin no more. We will fail sometimes and forgivness is there, which brings freedom but we can’t cling to worthless idols and forsake grace (Jonah 2:8) that would allow us to grow in knowledge of Him.
But your right, done with the wrong motives it is abuse and self-atonement. That is why discerning the truth is important.
Anyhow just my thoughts on a subject I enjoy discussing.
I am glad I found your blog, I am not too blog-savvy, but I really appreciate people’s thoughts and being able to participate!
Hope to see you around MH soon! Love, Amy
I really liked this:
“I will continue to work out my salvation with fear and trembling, but the working out part does not get me more of the blood. I am already in Christ. I am already covered with grace. God sees Jesus over me.”
As a professed self-introspective person who eres on the side of focusing on my depravity without grace (and a lot of needless “shoulds”), thank you for this reminder.
Things that look “good” from the outside (such as searching out idols) can be so sneaky in driving us away from Jesus. I know for me it has sucked the joy out of my life and when that happens I cease to enjoy God or the blessings He gives. I am now (hopefully!) coming out of a season like that.
Resting in Christ, trusting His grace, having His peace is a wonderful thing, one I hope we all experience more and more of.